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An Announcement for Redeeming the Days Blog

I have been blogging on and off for about 9 years now. Yeah, I know…crazy. It began as a journal, or a way to post pictures of Isaac. Then, it kind of morphed from there. I tried my hand at some crafting posts and some recipe posts. Now, three blogs later, I’m still at it. The funny thing is that I’ve never really cared if anyone read it or not. It’s always really been for me. If anyone read it and enjoyed it, that’s just been an added bonus in my book. That’s why you don’t see ads on my blog. That’s also why I have never made money off my blog. When I recommend a book, I get no commission. It’s sincerely because the book impacted me deeply and I want to share it. I’ve come to realize that blogging is really and truly an outpouring of what’s in my heart. And, as much as I have tried to put it on the back burner, it keeps on bubbling up. But, recently, God has taken me in a new direction for this blog, and I’m excited to share with you the journey that I’ve been working through.

I am a reader-always have been. But, I have a confession…I LOVE children’s fiction. And I can’t stand adult fiction. It’s just not something I’ve ever been able to read and really enjoy. Therefore, for “pleasure reading” I always end up reading Christian non-fiction or books about homeschool or rearing children. I know, it’s weird. I just feel really good about making my leisure hours somehow productive. Ha! Anyway, I stumbled upon a book called, Revolution in World Missions by K.P. Yohannan, the founder of the Gospel for Asia ministry. It was a free book, as in a they-will-mail-it-to-you free book-not just a Kindle edition. I couldn’t pass it up! When I got it, it sat on my shelf for a while as I read through some other books, but finally curiosity got the best of me, and in all honesty, I will admit, I ended up putting it in my bathroom so I could read a little bit at a time in peace. Yes…this is the only way I get any reading done. I take extra long bathroom breaks. I know that’s probably too much information….just keepin’ it real for you-it’s a good technique when you have four children. So I read through it really slowly, and every day, the few pages I read just cut me through. I mean, I felt so convicted with every page turn, so changed, so moved to action in world missions. I literally mentioned to Tim a few times that we could just head on over to India and be missionaries and it would be just fine with me. If you know me, I rarely leave Morrilton, I can count on one hand how many states I’ve visited, and I’ve never been to another country. Yeah, I’m a homebody. So you can see that this book really and truly was doing a work in me.

After a while of reading this book and the Holy Spirit really beginning to move in me, I knew that I had a part in this. I knew that while jetting off to India was not the right thing for us at this point, that still, God had something in mind for me to do. But, I just couldn’t figure it out. And in the meantime, my head was so clouded with so much I was mulling over that I felt as though it might just burst. I couldn’t rest, I couldn’t think clearly, I was cranky. And if I can just be totally frank with you, in my mind, I was going through a huge adjustment with our adoption, and I kind of felt like God should just give me a little rest from any other conviction, right? That makes sense doesn’t it? But, that apparently is not how God works with me. Not in this case. So finally, one night I just broke down and shared my thoughts with Tim, and he felt that all of my crankiness and poor outlook on things was due to the fact that I was supposed to do something that I wasn’t doing. When he said that, it clicked, and I knew. I was supposed to be writing. I was supposed to be pouring my thoughts onto the computer screen.

So, I went back to the Gospel for Asia site, but this time, I wasn’t looking for somewhere that we could go. I was just looking….and sure enough, tucked away in the site menu, I found a little button that said, “Sign Up to be a Blogger for Asia”. And my heart leaped. I knew that was it. I couldn’t go be a teacher across the ocean, but I could be a voice. Maybe a tiny voice in a great, big world, but a voice all the same.

And it occurred to me…that’s what God has called me to do on a few accounts. It is my prayer to be a voice for those who don’t have one….for the orphans in our own community to the women and children destitute and starving in Asia. It may not be much, but I have to do my part to contribute. So, the big announcement is that I am now officially a “Gospel for Asia Blogger”. And periodically, I will be bringing you stories from across the world. It is my hope to write these stories in a family-friendly way, so that you can share my posts with your children. Because we need to raise up children who are more passionate about the things that God cares about and less passionate about the things of the world. And I will tell you that when you begin to read some of these stories, the things of this world look so very pale. I also plan to share with you missionary studies that you can do together with your family. I’m really excited about the direction that the Lord is taking my blog. I have realized in the past few weeks that writing is something that I have to make time for…it’s something that is good for my soul. It’s actually what I do for me just as much, if not more, as I do it for others. And while I don’t think that I’m an amazing writer, I hope and pray that these stories will challenge you, encourage you, and empower you, as they have me.

I’ll begin sharing more soon. In the meantime, check out the free book that completely changed the way I think about almost everything. Click on the banner below: